Cardinal Francis George Called To Resign Over KKK-Gay Pride Comment In Full Page Ad

By

On Top Magazine Staff

|
December 30, 2011

Cardinal Francis George is being called
on to resign in a full page ad for comparing gay rights activist to
the Ku Klux Klan.

The ad to run Sunday in The Chicago
Tribune is being paid for by gay rights group Truth Wins Out.

“Hey, Francis George, gay is not like
the KKK,” the ad's headline states.

George, the head of the Catholic
Conference of Illinois and the Archbishop of Chicago, is under fire
for saying during a Fox Chicago interview that he believes a Gay
Pride parade route in Chicago should be altered to avoid passing in
front of Our Lady of Mount Carmel's front doors.

“I go with the pastor,” George
said. “He's telling us that he won't be able to have services on
Sunday if that's the case. You don't want the gay liberation
movement morph into something like the Klu Klux Klan, demonstrating
in the streets against Catholicism.”

George defended his stance when the
host called it “a little strong.”

“It is, but you take a look at the
rhetoric. The rhetoric of the Klu Klux Klan, the rhetoric of some of
the gay liberation people. Who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The
Catholic Church.”

In an interview on Christmas Day,
George softened his remarks.

“Obviously, it's absurd to say the
gay and lesbian community are the Ku Klux Klan,” he told ABC
7. “But if you organize a parade that looks like parades that
we've had in our past because it stops us from worshiping God, well
then that's the comparison. But it's not with people and people –
it's parade-parade.”

Wayne Besen, executive director of
Truth Wins Out, said an apology would not suffice and that the
archbishop needed to step down.

“We felt compelled to place this ad
after Cardinal George compounded his initial smear with further
insults disguised as an apology. It seems the sin of pride is
keeping George from saying he is sorry. At this point, the only road
to redemption is his resignation,” Besen said in a statement.